Utopia
by TheMultiFandomFangirl
Summary: Two years after Claire showed the world that there were people with abilities among them, the world is in ruins. Specials are hunted while humans are hidden safely away. Peter Petrelli is alone, searching for Utopia where Specials can be themselves. Along the way, he meets another Special named Ashleigh, and a few other unlikely allies. Peter/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is post 'A Brave New World' but sorta AU. In this, Peter never had his powers taken from his dad, so he's still got the same power as in season 1 where he just absorbs everyone else's powers. :) Enjoy my lovelies and as always, review! xo**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

Peter Petrelli pulled out the small golden compass from the pocket of his jeans. He watched it spin around the face of the compass until it finally stopped, pointing North. He heard the sound of guns cocking and leather-clad footsteps coming his way. Peter ran down the road and ducked behind a large warehouse. He saw an abandoned sports store a little down the street and decided that it would be a good place to stop and get some supplies. Peter hid as the Executioners inched closer and closer towards him.

Executioners are what the Specials call the American army. And the British army. And the French army. And basically every other army in the world, all of which were now hunting down 'Specials' all around the globe while the 'Normals' were free to roam. It was only two years since the carnival incident, and the world had gone down the toilet.

The world was fine and ready to accept the Specials for about six months, before it all went downhill. Bennet was right; all it took was one Sylar before the Normals stopped trusting the Specials. One Special hurt a Normal and the next thing, all there's a war raging between the Specials and the Normals. Well, there's a war raging _against _the Specials, all thanks to the Normals, but all the Specials want is to be left alone to live in peace. So, the Normals banded together against the Specials, banishing them to live on the run until they find Utopia. The Specials have spent the last year and a half on the run, either finding Utopia, or being caught and killed or 'cured' on the way.

Once Peter heard that the Executioners were gone, he made sure the coast was clear before he made a dash for the abandoned sports store. Even though the Normals were free to walk around, a lot of them felt threatened by the Specials and hid out at a place they call Safe Haven, leaving the rest of the world, practically free from Normals – except of course, for the Executioners.

Peter ran into the sports store, and looked around for anything even remotely useful. He spotted a backpack, and thought that it might be a good idea to grab it. He took the bag off of the shelf and frantically looked around for anything else. He took three small first aid kits and two Tasers; just in case. His next stop was the supermarket, since he was running low on food and water. He snuck out of the store and cursed under his breath as he saw that there were Executioners scoping out the store. He used the power he got from Claude and was suddenly invisible. He closely, and quietly, followed an Executioner into the store and then broke away from his trail once they were inside. Peter slowly shuffled along the aisles, still freezing when an Executioner came closer to him, even though they couldn't see him. They left the store eventually, and Peter became visible again, knowing it was safe to. He was shoving some bottles of water and cans of Spam into his backpack, when he noticed a glowing light coming from the bathrooms. The dim orange light shone clearly from the bottom of the girls' bathroom door. He knew he probably shouldn't, but his curiosity got the better of him. He pushed open the door slowly, and saw a girl huddled in the corner of the bathroom – glowing bright orange.

"Hello?" Peter asked warily, taking a step towards the girl. Her head shot up and it started to look like she was giving off heat waves.

"Are the Executioners gone?" she asked; the fright in her voice evident.

"Yeah." Peter wiped his forehead with his sleeve; only just realising he was sweating. "Look, are you okay?" he went to step forward again, but the girl jumped up to stop him.

"No, stop!" she said loudly.

"What, why?" Peter asked. She gestured around them, and Peter saw that there really were heat waves coming from her and the entire room. Everything in the room that was made of metal was also white-hot. "Are you doing this?"

"I-I can't help it." She fretted. "It's my power, I can't control it."

"Hold on, what's your power? Uh, heating things up?" Peter asked, absolutely clueless.

"Sort of. When I get scared, or sad, basically whenever my emotions are running high, my blood boils and I heat up to sometimes over two-hundred degrees and then I glow. I burn white-hot." She explained, feeling more relaxed and starting to cooling down.

"Well, my names Peter. I'm a Special too." He told her.

"What's your power?" she asked, and knowing she was in the presence of another one of her kind, her temperature shot straight down to the normal body temperature.

"I, well, I absorb other Specials' powers." Peter explained. "I'm on my way to finding Utopia and you look like you could use some help, so do you wanna come with me?"

"Why would you take a chance? You don't even know me plus I could accidentally hurt you." She pointed out. Peter shrugged and gave her a lopsided smile.

"I guess I just have a lot of faith in people. Now why don't you tell me your name?"

"My name is Ashleigh." She told him with a small smile.

"Well Ashleigh, do you want to find Utopia with me?" Peter asked and held out a hand for her and after a few seconds of silence, she took it.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: this chapter is pretty boring, to me anyway. I just felt like I needed to get this out of the way.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**

"Here, this should be good for the night." Peter said, ushering Ashleigh into the abandoned caravan. They had been on the run non-stop for days now. Ashleigh nodded and followed him inside. It was small. _Really small. _They could only just stand up and there was barely enough room for both of them. It had a double bed at one end and a square table at the other end, with a few cabinets along the wall between them. Ashleigh panicked internally; looks like they'd be sharing a bed. "We'll get going tomorrow morning."

"Sure." Ashleigh agreed and took a seat at the table. "So, what's the story? How did this all start?"

Peter sighed and took a seat across from her. This was going to be a long story. "Well, I guess it started when my niece, Claire, jumped off of the Ferris wheel."

"Claire Bennet is your niece? I saw her on the news." Ashleigh butted in. of all the Specials she could've met, it had to be Claire Bennet's uncle. The uncle of the girl who started this war. Unintentional or not, she had no right to expose everyone's secrets like that.

"Yeah, she is. That _stupid _jump is what started this. She was always stubborn though. She wanted more than anything to live openly. So she tried, and it worked for a while. For about six months, things were alright; great even. The world just seemed…_better._But of course, another 'Sylar' popped up." Peter basically spoke the last sentence to himself.

"What's a 'Sylar'?" Ashleigh frowned in confusion.

_'Isn't Sylar a watch brand?' _she thought. She remembered getting a Sylar watch for her grandpa once.

"Sylar is a serial killer. Or, _was_, a serial killer. He's on our side now, but the point is, he used to kill other specials and take their powers. He killed a lot of people, but he's changed now."

"Wait, wait, so a Special started killing other Specials and then, _boom_, war?"

"Not quite, a Special started killing Normals and then, _boom_, war." Peter clarified.

"That's so racist! They don't start wars when Normals kill Normals." Ashleigh frowned.

"It's because we're different. We're easier to blame, and we're outnumbered. So anyway, Normals started hiding out at Safe Haven, Executioners started killing or 'curing' us." The way he said 'curing' made it sound as if he didn't believe people were really being cured.

"You don't believe they're curing us?" it came out as more of a question than a statement. Peter shook his head.

"I believe they're trying; but they need guinea pigs."

"So when you say 'curing' you really mean…" Ashleigh trailed off, not liking where her sentence was heading.

"Yeah." Peter nodded grimly. "So now here we are. On the run from _people_."

"How do you even know Utopia is real?"

"I have this." He pulled out a small gold compass from his pocket and held it out for her to see. "This compass points to where a Special needs to go. Where they can be safe."

"What would happen if a normal got their hands on it?" Ashleigh was frowning again.

"Nothing. It only works if a Special is holding it. If a normal has it, it does nothing. Just seems broken." Peter smiled his breathtaking lopsided smile and Ashleigh found herself smiling back. His expression grew serious again before he spoke. "It used to point to the carnival. Now it points to Utopia."

Peter rummaged through his bag and pulled out two protein bars. He threw one to Ashleigh and the two ate in silence. She never would've thought that she'd be so happy to eat a protein bar. Then again, she never thought she'd be so hungry that she would be willing to eat nearly anything.

"We should probably get some sleep." Peter said, only glancing at Ashleigh. "Do you mind sharing a bed? If you're uncomfortable with it, I can always sleep on the floor." Peter said, ever the gentleman.

"No." she said a little too quickly. The only thing she was afraid of was roasting him alive. "No, it's fine."

"Alright." Peter got into the bed and gestured for her to get in too. She did, distancing herself from him as much as possible. Peter felt awkward as they lay far apart. He could tell that she was purposely staying away, but Peter would feel more comfortable with her closer to him. She was facing away from him, but he could see heat waves starting to radiate off of her. He slid closer to her and slipped an arm around her in an effort to reassure her. "It's okay. Relax." He whispered into her ear. When he felt her cool down, he smiled and closed his eyes, drifting to sleep with her still in his arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Peter opened his eyes, only to be greeted with a mass of light brown curls tickling his nose. He smiled to himself and tried to leave the bed without waking Ashleigh. A sleepy moan brought his attention back to the sleeping brunette. He chuckled and shook his head at her before climbing out of the warm bed. He strolled across the van to the table where his backpack was and looked through it to see how much supplies they had left. There was a noise that froze Peter in his tracks; footsteps.

He rushed over to Ashleigh's sleeping form and gently shook her awake. She blinked a few times, looking disoriented. Suddenly, though, she was wide awake as the fear in Peter's eyes reached hers. She shot up in the bed and looked straight at Peter.

"What is it?" she asked quietly, knowing that only one thing could make him have a reaction like that, but she needed confirmation.

"Executioners." He replied, just as quiet. Ashleigh moved out of the bed, fast but quiet, and slipped her shoes back onto her feet. "We need to get out of here." He slung the backpack over his right shoulder and threw a look at Ashleigh, assessing whether or not she was good to start running again.

"I'm fine." She said, as though she read his thoughts. Peter looked as though he didn't really believe her, but right now he didn't have time to argue. He walked up to the door of the van and peeked out of it. He gestured for Ashleigh to come closer, so she did. She stood behind him as he pointed to a street just a while down the road.

"See that street?" she nodded. "I can see an alleyway there. On three, we're going to _run_, got that?" he asked. Again, she only nodded. "Okay. _One…two -" _he heard an Executioners voice and nodded at Ashleigh, who understood his unspoken message. The two of them bolted away from the caravan and into the street. Just as Peter said, there was an alleyway there. They ran past the broken windows and disposed mattresses in the alley. Peter ducked behind a big skip bin and dragged the brunette down with him. The shade from the building was clouding their shadows from view.

Peter and Ashleigh could hear them coming down the street and hoped to whatever deity was out there that they wouldn't be caught. Ashleigh's heart was beating so hard that if this were a cartoon, it would jump out of her chest. She didn't even notice that she was nearly hyperventilating from the lack of breath. Suddenly, a warm hand wrapped around hers. She looked beside her; Peter was looking back at her with a look on his face that Ashleigh couldn't decipher. She took deep breaths as Peter whispered soothing words into her ear. It started to work – her skin went from a lightly glowing orange at nearly one hundred degrees, back to her normal beige complexion and a healthy body temperature – until they heard one of the Executioners call "Down here, in the alley!"

Peter put his fingers to his lips and closed his eyes, as if concentrating really hard. If her heart was beating rapidly before, it stopped when an Executioner stopped right in front of her and Peter and looked down at them. She went to make a run for it but Peter gripped her hand tighter and put a hand over her mouth, pulling her closer to him; a non-verbal way of saying 'stay here and stay quiet'. So she did. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on Peter's thumb rubbing circles on the back of her hand, instead of the big man with a large gun pointed to her head.

The one Executioner was soon joined by another two. They all had guns, Tasers and batons. They had on bullet-proof vests and their belts were stocked with bullets that looked a little strange; sort of a dull grey colour. They looked like the average GI Joe, except that they had on gas masks as well – as if they'd catch a disease from being in the same proximity of a Special.

"Where's Agent Finn?" the first Executioner asked.

"Gone to check the rest of the street, sir." The shorter of the other two replied.

"Alone?" the first one asked again. His voice had a threatening tone to it that no one missed.

"Y-yes sir." The short one stammered.

"Specials are _dangerous_." The leader said.

"I know sir. I'll go back Finn up." The shorter said. The leader nodded him away and the former went to leave. He stopped when he reached the end of the alleyway.

"Sir!" an unknown voice panted from running. "I found, them but they evaded me. They're in an abandoned building a few blocks away!" the unknown voice was Agent Finn. Peter and Ashleigh shared confused looks. They were right here, not 'a few blocks away'.

The leader nodded to the others for them to follow him. The first two did, but Agent Finn just told them that he'd look around a bit more. They agreed and ran off towards the building. Ashleigh was still confused as to why they didn't do anything to her and Peter, but Peter was confused to why Agent Finn led his friends on a goose-chase.

"It's okay, you can come out now." Agent Finn said, staring straight at Peter. Peter threw a wary glance at Ashleigh, and then Agent Finn. "I know you're there, Petrelli." he said the last sentence as if it were a clue. Obviously, Peter didn't get the hint, and Agent Finn sighed. "Maybe this will help." Agent Finn's body started to distort. He grew taller, his short sandy blonde hair was replaced with slicked back brown hair, and his face became less thin. He took off the gas mask and before them, stood a tall man with a large nose and thick eyebrows. Peter let out a small laugh and a sigh of relief. He stood up, pulling Ashleigh with him, still holding onto her hand.

"Okay, what just happened?" she asked, absolutely stunned.

"I made us invisible." Peter said casually.

"_What_? Why didn't you do that before?"

"Because it's not the most stable power I have, and it's harder to maintain with two people." he explained.

"Oh…well, thanks." She said, still processing the information.

"Sure, no thanks for the guy that saved your ass." The tall man scoffed.

"Oh, yeah sorry, thanks, um…" she trailed off, not knowing his name.

The man held out his hand and smiled. "The name's Sylar."

Ashleigh jumped back, squeezed Peter's hand and looked at him with wide eyes. "Sylar? Serial killer Sylar?"

"_Reformed_!" he shot Peter an annoyed looked.

"Don't worry," he said softly to Ashleigh, ignoring Sylar's look "he's on our side now."

She didn't quite know what she expected to happen next, but it definitely wasn't what did. Peter walked up to Sylar and the two shared a brotherly hug.

* * *

**A/N: I'd like to point out that this is just a Peter/Sylar FRIENDSHIP. Also, in the previous chapter, Peter and Ashleigh snuggling wasn't meant to be anything sexual or hinting at lovey-dovey feelings that soon in the story. It was just that, when I sleep in the same bed as someone, I feel awkward when I'm not cuddling them or just lying far apart so I applied that to the story.**


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

The four of them found a safe place to hide. They settled down in an empty house a little north of the alley. Once inside, they all sat in the living room. It was obvious that something bad happened here; the walls had scorch marks, the tables were upturned and the sofas were ripped, the stuffing falling out freely. Sylar tried to turn on a light, but there was no power in the house.

"Okay, can someone please explain to me why you two are all buddy-buddy?" Ashleigh said, pacing the living room.

"I helped save the world." Sylar shrugged. Ashleigh gaped and looked to Peter for confirmation.

"It's true, he did. He's done a lot of good since his serial killer days. I consider him a friend." Peter explained. Ashleigh nodded. She trusted Peter, so she trusted Sylar too.

"I'm Ashleigh." She introduced herself to Sylar. He stared at her, as if figuring her out. She started to get a little nervous from the intensity of his stare and she felt her fingers start to tingle. Soon, her skin was burning, but she was not yet glowing or radiating heat. It felt more like a fever.

"I'm Sylar." Sylar finally said, breaking his stare. Ashleigh's temperature shot down and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes and say '_yeah, no shit_'. Sylar turned to Peter. "Are you any closer?"

Peter shook his head dejectedly. "I don't know. I think I am, but…" he trailed off, not really sure how to say it.

"You can't feel it." Sylar finished for him, nodding in understanding.

"Utopia? Is that what you're talking about?" Ashleigh asked, hoping she was on the right page.

"Yeah." Peter said. "We have the compass, which leads us there, but we really don't know where it actually is. It could take us years to get there. I've been flying -"

"You can fly?" Ashleigh interrupted with wide, excited eyes.

Peter gave her an adorable lopsided smile and continued talking. "I've been flying everywhere so far, but since Ash joined me I haven't been able to."

Ashleigh felt a sinking feeling. She didn't want to be responsible for Peter not finding Utopia, or not finding it soon enough.

'_I don't want to hold him back or put him in danger._' She thought to herself.

"You aren't." Peter smiled sweetly and touched her forearm.

"What? How did you…?"

"I can read minds." He shrugged.

'_Control your thoughts. Control your thoughts. Control your thoughts Ashleigh Allegra Chase.' _She thought, and mentally face-palmed when she realised she said her full name. She glared at Peter when she heard him chuckle and he mouthed to her "Francesca?" with a smirk. She just shook her head.

"So, if you guys have so many powers, why don't you use them on the Executioners? I mean, I know they're humans but don't you think they're an exception?" she asked.

"Trust me, I've tried." Peter said. "I don't know why, but my powers don't work on them. Well, not my offensive powers anyway. I can use my powers on myself, like invisibility and flight, but I can't use my powers _on them_, like freezing them. It just doesn't work."

"Lead bracelets." Sylar stated. "They all wear lead bracelets. That's what stops our powers from working on them."

"So I wouldn't be able to burn them?" she asked.

"No, you wouldn't." Sylar answered. The room fell silent for a moment. All of them had a million thoughts in their heads, but none were spoken aloud. The silence was broken when Peter grabbed his backpack off of his shoulders and started to look through it.

"We should probably search the house." Peter stated. "It looks like it's already been raided, but maybe there's something useful left."

Sylar and Ashleigh nodded their agreement. Sylar went to look in the kitchen. He opened up the pantry, but there was nothing inside except mouldy bread. He'd rather starve than eat that. He turned on the tap to see if there was any water; there wasn't. He opened a few of the drawers. All cutlery that could be used as a weapon was gone. He opened another drawer and found a half-empty packet of batteries. He grabbed that, thinking it could be useful.

Peter went into the bathroom. It looked like this room hadn't been raided. The mirror wasn't smashed and everything looked fine. He opened the cabinet under the sink. There was nothing useful, only a few cleaning products. Peter opened up the cabinet mirror and saw that he was wrong, the bathroom had been raided. All that was there was a packet of Band-Aids and empty medicine boxes and containers.

Ashleigh went into the first door on the left. It looked like it belonged to a little boy. There were pictures of superheroes and dinosaurs on the walls, a Toy Story bed set, and toys scattered all across the floor. She rummaged through one of the toy-boxes, unsure of what she expected to find. There was a set of walkie-talkies that caught her eye. She took them, thinking they would be useful. She saw a Ben 10 bag beside the bed and grabbed it, placing the walkie-talkies inside it. Ashleigh left the room and (literally) ran into Peter.

"Oh, sorry." She mumbled, clenching her fists by her side so she didn't start to boil.

"It's fine." He smiled and held something out for her. "Here, I found it in the other bedroom."

Ashleigh realised it was a light brown jacket. She had been wearing a pair of jeans and a singlet for god knows how long now. She took it from him gratefully and shrugged it around her shoulders.

"Thanks." She smiled. Peter smirked down at her.

"Cute bag." He pointed to the Ben 10 bag. Ashleigh glared at him.

"Shut up." She grumbled and they walked back into the living room.

"You guys find anything?" Sylar asked.

"I got a packet of Band-Aids." Peter said.

"A pair of walkie-talkies and a backpack." Ashleigh shot Peter another glare when he sniggered.

"I got batteries." Sylar held up the half a packet of batteries. Ashleigh got out the walkie talkies and turned them on. One of them worked but the other was flat.

"Could I have two batteries?" she asked and Sylar handed them to her. She put them in the flat walkie-talkie and turned it on. She passed one to Sylar and spoke into it. It worked. At least they had some form of communication, just in case.

"Come on, we should get some rest before we leave again tomorrow." Peter suggested. "Sylar?"

"Yeah?" he replied, brows furrowed.

"Are you sticking with us?" Peter asked.

Sylar hesitated, but eventually nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

**A/N: I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, but hopefully you guys are. The next chapter will be better! xo**


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

Sylar sighed and stood up. He brushed off his jeans and headed for the door.

"Sylar, what are you doing? I thought you were with us?" Peter questioned.

"I am." Sylar said, facing Peter who had also gotten up and was now standing before Sylar. "We need food. I'm going to go and see if there's anything left in the corner store up the road."

"You can't go alone." Ashleigh said, standing beside Peter. "It's the middle of the night and they might still be out there."

"I know, but if I take you with me and they show up, you'll glow and we might get caught, no offense." Ash nodded. "I can't turn invisible or fly like Peter can."

"Then I'll go with you." Peter suggested.

"Then who's gonna watch Firefly here?" he asked, gesturing to Ashleigh, who was taken aback by the nickname. "Besides, I'm stronger than you Peter. I can handle myself. I can always shapeshift if I have to."

"He's right, Peter. We need food and it is the best bet." Ashleigh said timidly. She and Sylar looked at Peter, who reluctantly nodded.

"Then it's agreed." Sylar opened the door and turned to leave but Ashleigh stopped him.

"Wait!" she turned around and grabbed something. "Here." She held out a walkie-talkie, which Sylar took, and then headed off into the night.

"I'm sorry." Ashleigh muttered quietly after what seemed like years of silence between them.

"For what?" Peter's confused voice rung through the silence next.

"I know I'm not really useful. I mean, we're basically in the middle of a war and all I do is boil and glow." She said, not meeting Peter's eyes because she was afraid of the emotions she'd see in them.

"That could be helpful." Peter tried to make her feel better. He hated seeing her upset. She raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"How?"

"If we were stuck in a dark room." Peter suggested. Ashleigh let out a small chuckle at that.

"You mean like we are now?" she replied, glancing at the small, dark room they were in. The only light they had was coming from the streetlights outside, casting a dim light across them.

"Exactly." Peter smirked and held out his hand. "Here."

"What?" Ashleigh asked, furrowing her brow.

"Take my hand." He nodded towards his outstretched hand. She threw him a sceptical look, but did so. Her whole body started to run a fever, and her skin took on a slight orange glow. Peter smiled at her, glad that his touch affected her like this, but then got his thoughts back on track. "Okay, try and make only your hand glow."

Ashleigh shook her head rapidly. "I don't wanna burn you."

"You won't," he grabbed a piece of broken glass from the upturned coffee table and held out his arm. "Look." He pressed the glass to his skin, ignoring the scared gasp from Ashleigh, and proceeded to slice it down his arm.

"Peter, what the hell?!" she nearly screamed but managed to control her voice, so not to attract attention to the where they were in case Executioners were around.

"Wait." He said calmly and led his eyes back to his arm. Ashleigh gasped again, when she saw the skin start to stitch itself back together. "I regenerate. It's one of the powers I picked up. I bet if I really focused, I could burn and glow too."

"That's so cool! The regeneration thingy, not the glowing." She smiled.

"Now, he sat beside her so their shoulders were touching and grasped her hand in his. "Try."

Ash nodded and took a deep breath, trying to focus all her energy onto her hand and making it glow. She glanced down at it, only to see that she'd managed to make her whole body shoot to one hundred and fifty degrees, not just her hand. She huffed in annoyance.

"Hey, you raised your temperature by choice. It's a start." Peter encouraged and nudged her shoulder with his.

She concentrated again. It seemed like forever, but soon enough, she felt an odd sensation. It was as though her arm was encased in hot water, but the rest of her body wasn't. She let out a proud laugh when she saw her arm glowing brightly. In another five minutes, she had her hand burning white-hot, illuminating the room and the loving smile on Peter's face. Peter looked down at their hands and closed his eyes for a moment. Ashleigh watched too, and frowned when Peter's hand slowly started to light up too.

"You did that so fast." She grumbled jealously. Peter could control her ability better than she could.

"I've had years of practise." He said with one of his cute lopsided smiles.

"When did you discover your power?" she asked, still staring at their intertwined hands that were glowing brightly.

Peter looked up thoughtfully. "About, five years ago." He started. "I kept having dreams that I was flying, but they felt _so_ real. One day, I jumped off of a building, just to see if it would work. My brother, Nathan, found me, and we both flew. It was…amazing. He denied it, of course. It would've ruined his campaign, so he told the media it was just a suicide attempt."

"Wait, you're Peter Petrelli?" she gaped, although she felt stupid for only realising it now, and not when Sylar called him 'Petrelli' back in the alley.

Peter laughed and nodded. "I didn't know it then, but those dreams were actually powers I'd absorbed from my mother." Ashleigh nodded, just taking it all in. "So what about you? How'd you find out you had abilities?"

"Um, it was when I was fourteen. It was when I had my first kiss." Ashleigh was blushing deep red. "One second we were kissing, and the next, he was screaming. His lips were burnt and there were handprints burned into his shoulders. He didn't want to sound crazy and say I burnt him, so he passed it off as accidentally drinking boiling water, I don't know if anyone believed that, but no one could explain the handprints. My parents paid off his family to keep quiet about me, though. I never went out after that. I lived in complete solitude, apart from my parents. When I saw that girl on TV, the one that jumped off of the Ferris wheel, I was relieved that I wasn't the only 'different' person out there. When the Executioners started taking people, though, my parents kicked me out. They said it was for my safety, but I think it was because they really started to see how dangerous we Specials were. I mean, how could I be safer out there on my own?"

"Wow, you really went through a lot." Peter said, giving her hand a light squeeze.

"No more than the next Special." She shrugged.

"Well, you got by on your own for two years. That proves that you aren't useless." He smiled sweetly.

"Yeah, but if you didn't help me that day at the supermarket I would be god knows where. Probably being used as a guinea pig, locked up, or even dead. I'd been in that bathroom for a week; only sneaking out to grab food if I really needed it. The Executioners caught me but couldn't get near enough to me without burning. They were just leaving to get back-up when you found me. So thank you, I owe you my life."

"You're welcome." Peter smiled and his eyes locked with Ashleigh's. They stayed like that for a moment, before the crackling noise of a walkie-talkie interrupted their moment.

"_Peter, Firefly? Can you hear me?" _Sylar's voice rang through. Ashleigh picked up the other walkie-talkie and replied.

"Yeah we can hear you. What's wrong?" fear rose inside of her, hoping that he wasn't hurt.

"_I nearly got caught. I had to run so I won't be back tonight. I'll meet up with you guys tomorrow. There's a cinema, it's past the corner store and to the left. Turn right and then left again and you'll be there, don't worry it's the same direction of Utopia. I'll be there._"

Ashleigh put down the walkie-talkie and sighed. She had no idea finding Utopia would be this hard.


	6. NOT A CHAPTER

Due to exams, I won't be able to update for a few weeks, but when I get back, I'll have a double update for you!


End file.
